"Swan?"

"Hook!"

"What the hell are you doing, you're depriving me of a dashing rescue!"

"Sorry - the only one who saves me is me!"

Not that a little help doesn't come in handy sometimes, Emma thinks to herself. She was very suspicious when that nondescript black guard tossed her a wire, but when her cellmate told her he'd been bringing her food she relaxed and used the tool to pick their locks. Being a part of Regina's guard was a job, after all. They couldn't all be as ruthless as the Evil Queen.

The man had disappeared as soon as he had arrived, in no small part because he may be a good soul among vultures, but he couldn't make that known if he wanted to keep his life. Emma wishes he'd taken off his helmet, though, just so she knew the face of the man she would be forever indebted to - even if she was never gonna see him again. Then she remembers he hadn't seen her face either, at least not her real one, and shrugs.

In any case, she's not planning on telling Killian any of this. She's seen what he's done to himself just hours before, and besides the last thing she wants now is to plant any further doubt in his mind or heart talking to him about kind strangers who have helped her before he got a chance to. She doesn't really know yet what she's gonna do once they get out of this mess - if they get out of this mess - but everything they've been going through has been changing her and if she knows anything at this moment is that he doesn't deserve it.

But it's not the time to figure that all out. Now they need to get the hell out of these dungeons and go find her mother.

They're trapped inside Rumplestiltskin's impenetrable vault and she's just poured her heart out to him about how Storybrooke is her home and how much she's been missing her parents. She looks at him with tears in her eyes and he's actually smiling, but he isn't making fun of her - he's happy, so she can't help but smile herself. Maybe this staying locked up thing doesn't have to be 100% horrifying after all (wait, what?).

"What?"

"Look down!"

She does and the white light bursting from her hands blinds her momentarily.

"I'd say you got your magic back. Now...shall we go?"

She grabs the wand and does her best to concentrate and recreate the time portal to go back home, but something seems to be blocking it.

"Don't look so defeated, love", Killian immediately starts. "Isn't this vault supposed to contain all that mysterious dark magic even the crocodile himself doesn't know how to deal with?"

"Sure, but last time I checked my magic wasn't dark", she sighs, burying her head in her hands.

"No, not quite", he points out, "but Zelena's was. That's her spell you're trying to recreate after all."

"That actually makes sense, I guess, but how does that help us?"

"Zelena's magic won't work here, but yours might..."

It takes her a second to realize what he means, and when she does he's already smirking at her knowingly, a look she shoots right back at him.

"Okay then, let's do this! C'mon, grab the woman!"

"Speaking of ourselves in the third person now, are we, Swan? Sure!"

"Hey hey hey", she shouts when he starts walking towards her. She tries to fake some anger but is already laughing. "The woman who's unconscious on the floor, mister funny man!"

"Can't blame a man for trying, can you?"

She shakes her head at the adorably sheepish look on his face and thinks that no, she can't. And she won't. Not anymore, no matter where - or when - they are.

Once the woman's hunched over his left shoulder, Emma holds his hand and closes her eyes. When she opens them, they're outside, on the same spot they landed when they first went through the portal a couple of days ago.

"See what you can do when you believe in your power, love? Messing with hot drinks or my hook is nothing in the face of all that prowess!"

"Maybe not, but it's still fun", she replies with a mischievous smile. Reaching for the wand, she realizes their hands are still entangled, but doesn't try to break free. "Okay, then! Let's do this!"

As soon as she raises the wand, a net raises from the ground and entraps them, much like she'd heard their father telling he'd done to her mother so many times. "What the hell...?"

"A man can't even hide from the Evil Queen's black guard without some witch trying to draw attention, now can he?" The man's voice - a very familiar one, in fact - comes from under them. "Oh, and is this the infamous Captain Hook? This could be either my luckiest or worst day yet!"

"Try the worst, mate! You have no idea what's happening here. Release us from this primitive trappings now!" He then turns to Emma, who looks like she's seen a ghost, and softens his voice. "Are you alright, Swan? Have these buffoon's ropes hurt you?"

Well, no, she's not alright, because she has seen a ghost. Sort of. Something tells her the man on the ground is the guard who'd helped her escape from Regina's dungeon.

And that man is Graham Humbert.